


a place so quiet in myself

by Chaos_Is_A_Ladder



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 04:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10529349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaos_Is_A_Ladder/pseuds/Chaos_Is_A_Ladder
Summary: (or "if  i don't have you by me then i'll go underground!")Jemma and Daisy are in the Framework, and it's like nothing they could've ever imagined.or Aida is unintentionally a very good matchmaker.(Yes, this is another one of those Framework speculative fics, and no, Ward will not show up at all, and no, I’m ignoring the whole Agents of Hydra thing for the sake of this story)





	

**Author's Note:**

> [Please follow me on tumblr! (If you want to, I'm not your boss)](http://movepastthefeeling.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  
> 
> Edit: I ALSO FORGOT TO MENTION THAT I'M IGNORING CANON FITZSIMMONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS STORY ALONE NOBODY IS CHEATING ON ANYBODY HERE

The last image that fills up Daisy’s vision before she slips into the Framework is that of Jemma’s face, tired and hurt but not broken (not ever), ever resolute and strong. Daisy tries her best to hold onto that image – the image of the strongest person Daisy has ever known (and quite likely the strongest person she’ll ever know).

Daisy’s eyes flicker shut, and the image fades.

But when she opens her eyes again, it’s Jemma, once again. Though she looks softer, less weathered by the world. Something about it all breaks Daisy’s heart. What would Jemma be like without SHIELD? Without Ward almost killing her (and the rest of the team)? Without Maveth?

(Something indelibly Jemma, of course. She’s been shaped by her trauma, like all others who have experienced trauma as she has, but she is more than that. More than the pain that haunts her).

Daisy furrows her brow. She feels completely out of time, as if she’s slipping out of a dream (or into one, perhaps). Did the procedure not work? Did they gain access to the Framework at all?  Without thinking about it, Daisy reaches out and gently strokes the side of Jemma’s face, just to make sure that’s she’s really there. That she’s _real_.  

Jemma flinches and sleepily brushes Daisy’s hand away.

“Hey, just five more minutes, Skye,” Jemma mumbles.

“Skye? What the – Jemma, wake up,” Daisy says, reaching out to shake Jemma’s shoulders.  

“Sk-Daisy,” Jemma says as her eyes slowly flutter open. “Where are we?”

“We’re in the Framework,” Daisy says, propping her head up on her hand.

Jemma blinks sleepily, like she’s still just coming to.

“Right, of course,” Jemma says.

Jemma looks down at herself, just to assure herself that this is real and really happening.

“But beyond that,” Jemma says. “Where _are_ we?”

“I have no idea,” Daisy says.

Daisy takes in the room around her. It’s nice, whatever this place is. Cool, early-morning light filters in through a gauzy, white curtain that hangs lazily over a large window. The light falls onto a desk and bookshelf, both filled to the brim with books that have titles far beyond Daisy’s science comprehension and with framed pictures that are slightly too far away for make out

The bed they’re lying in is nice, too, something far more comfortable than what they’re used to. (And, if Daisy’s being honest with herself, they’re far more comfortable than she deserves. This is the kind of bed you’d wake up in when you have your life sorted out, next to the love of your life.)

(Daisy tries not to think about that too much).

“It’s a shame this bed is so comfortable, or I’d be more motivated to get up and explore,” Jemma says softly, echoing Daisy’s thoughts exactly.

“So true,” Daisy says. “I’ve never had a bed this nice.”

They’re silent for a moment as they simply take in their surroundings.

“Why us?” Jemma asks. “Why did the program put us together?”

“Wow, I can tell when I’m not wanted,” Daisy tries to joke, though it comes out flat. “I don’t know. Maybe because we entered at the same time?”

“That wouldn’t necessarily land us in a bed together,” Jemma says. “It’s a virtual world, one that we have no input over. We could’ve been placed on opposite sides of the globe.”

“Well, let’s just be thankful we didn’t,” Daisy says. “I bet we’d get some answers if we look around this place.”

“Yes, I suppose we will,” Jemma says.

Daisy reluctantly extricates herself from the plush bed and lets her feet sink into the soft, thick carpeting below. Everything about this world is so soft that Daisy becomes suspicious – is Aida trying to lull them into a false sense of security?

(Or is Daisy so used to sharp edges and harsh lines that anything else feels wrong and alien?)

Daisy looks down at herself for the first time and she realizes she’s dressed only in a loose-fitting shirt and boyshorts. Her brow furrows. What version of reality could this be? Where could she find herself so comfortable, so at peace? It’s nothing like any world Daisy knows.

Daisy pads around the room idly at first, before coming to stop in front of the overstuffed bookshelf. She grabs a picture frame at random. The photograph contained within is simple, beautiful, even. It’s of Daisy and Jemma, both of them laughing and looking so content that Daisy can hardly recognize the expression on her own face.

Jemma comes up silently beside her and picks up another picture. In it, Daisy’s pressing her lips to Jemma’s cheek. A simple, silver band on Jemma’s finger glints in the light.

“What is this?” Daisy asks softly.

 “Fitz mentioned that Radcliffe designed the Framework to be like wish fulfillment,” Jemma says. “A life with no regrets.”

“What regret would that be for us?” Daisy asks.

“I don’t know,” Jemma says.

(Daisy’s pretty sure that she knows, that they both know. But she doesn’t say anything).

They explore the rest of the house, and find more artifacts of their life together (or the life the Framework thinks they should have together).

Daisy finds a lanyard badge that shows she works for a cybersecurity consulting firm, while Jemma finds lesson plans for her biochemistry class at the local university. There’s nothing to link them to SHIELD at all, save for a clipping of an article about the Avengers from the local newspaper that hangs on their refrigerator.

That is, of course, until they step until the – _their_ – shared study.

Two frames hang on the wall opposite to them, containing within them certificates of honorable discharge from SHIELD. A shadow box filled to the corners with medals and pins hangs right below.

“Oh my god,” Jemma says.

Daisy takes a step forward to inspect the veritable display of medals. Two, glimmering gold, stands out amongst all the rest – the Peggy Carter Commemorative Medal, the absolute highest honor that SHIELD can bestow upon an individual. And there are _two_ of them, one engraved with Daisy’s name, and the other with Jemma’s.

“We left,” Jemma says. “We both got out in this world.”

“Maybe that’s the regret?” Daisy asks. “SHIELD?”

“Perhaps,” Jemma says, with a tone of voice that suggests she doesn’t quite believe it.

The two of them are silent for a moment.

“We should go through the house again,” Daisy says. “Just to make sure we haven’t missed anything.”

“Agreed,” Jemma says.

They split up and retrace their steps through this strange, idyllic suburban home. There’s nothing that gives them any further clues of what this virtual world is like, but Daisy spots something silver glinting on the dresser in the bedroom. She grabs it and slides it into her pocket.

They reconvene out into the kitchen and sit in the cozy breakfast nook, the morning sun now streaming in through the windows. The whole house seems to glow golden, and Daisy can hardly believe her eyes. It’s so stunningly domestic, in a way that she’s never expected for herself. It almost makes her forget that they’re inside of an entire virtual reality.

“We need to think about how we’re going to find the others,” Jemma says.

“I wish we could stay,” Daisy says, quickly and quietly, as if Jemma would somehow not hear her.

Daisy expects Jemma to admonish her, to remind her of the utter importance of the mission and the need to save their friends, of the sacrifices that had to be made just to get here at all. But Jemma’s expression softens, and she reaches out to rest her hand atop Daisy’s.

“I must confess, I do too,” Jemma says. “It’s so nice. We haven’t had a lot of nice lately.”

Daisy laughs, dry and humorless.

“No, we haven’t,” Daisy says.

Jemma smiles weakly at her.

“I’ve always wondered,” Daisy says. “Even when I was a little kid, getting shuffled between homes. I’ve always wondered what it would like to be normal. To have what I thought a normal life would be.”

Jemma doesn’t say anything, but she squeezes Daisy’s hand just to let her know that she’s there.

“Just to have a job. A house,” Daisy says, her voice cracking. “A wife.”

Daisy reaches into her pocket and pulls out the simple, silver wedding band she found sitting so innocently in their bedroom. She places it on the table, letting it catch the morning sunlight.

“Daisy,” Jemma says, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I found this in the bedroom,” Daisy says. “I didn’t want to say it before, but I know what my regret is. And I think the Framework figured it out too, somehow. It’s you.”

Daisy takes a deep, trembling breath, because her ventricles are filled with doubt. There’s a tiny voice in her head that’s screaming at her, that she has a job to do, that she shouldn’t be distracted by this world. But deep down, Daisy knows that if she doesn’t get this out, she may die holding it clutching within her ribcage.

“I was always too afraid. Too unsure,” Daisy says. “But it’s always been you. I’ve wanted to tell you for so long but there was always something else. Something more important. The next mission, or alien DNA, or an alien planet.”

Jemma chuckles faintly at that.

“I can’t imagine my life without you,” Daisy says. “And I know this is insane. We’re in some computer fantasy land, off to fight an AI gone very, very wrong. But I needed to let you know. I don’t know if I’ll ever have this courage in me again.”

Daisy, who has faced off against the worst the world could muster to throw at her, has never felt so terrified.

Jemma nods and nods as big, endearing smile comes across her face. Daisy doesn’t know what to think.

“I’m glad that I haven’t been the only coward,” Jemma says. “I’ve been rehearsing a speech just like that in my head for years now.”

Daisy doesn’t know how to react, so she just laughs and buries her head in her arms against the table.

“We’re ridiculous,” Daisy says, her chin resting on her forearms as she looks up at Jemma.

“We are. Aida is a surprisingly capable matchmaker, however,” Jemma says, and that combination of words in that order is ridiculous enough to send them both into a fit of laughter.

Their laughter fades, and they find themselves in a comfortable silence. Daisy just _looks_ at Jemma, who looks so at ease that she’s reminded of the Jemma she knew when she first joined SHIELD, back when everything was bright and shiny and new. (Before everything became so twisted and dark. Before everything went the way Daisy expected life to always go).

“Would you still want all of this?” Daisy asks. “Back in the real world?”

Daisy gestures her hand about, trying to make it seem like she’s just talking about the house and the breakfast nook and not their entire relationship.

“I would,” Jemma says. “I’d want us to try, at the very least.”

“Me too,” Daisy says.

“Though we can’t quit SHIELD just yet,” Jemma says. “We have a job to do.”

Daisy breaks out into a big grin, because there’s that fire that she’s come to associate with Jemma. Besides, the two of them? They’re unstoppable.

“We do,” Daisy says.

They stand up. Daisy, feeling emboldened, slips her hand into Jemma’s. Outside, the sun is shining and the birds are chirping. It’s a beautiful day to save the world.

Jemma smiles at Daisy, and she begins to feel a little saved herself.

Daisy places her hand on the doorknob, but Jemma clears her throat and Daisy pauses.

“Just, before we go,” Jemma says.

Jemma leans forward and presses a kiss to Daisy’s cheek, just barely catching the corner of her lips in the process. Jemma’s lips are soft, and Daisy feels weak.

“Let’s go save our friends,” Daisy says.

“Let’s,” Jemma says.

They walk out the door, hand-in-hand. Together.

**Author's Note:**

> ...and then they save their friends, stop Aida, and kiss for real


End file.
